Boston: Coast Guard teams from the United States and Canada are currently racing to find a submarine that has gone missing in the North Atlantic with two Pakistanis on board.
According to the US Coast Guard, there was a pilot and four passengers on board. He added that the boat can sink for up to 96 hours. However, it was unclear whether it was still underwater or had surfaced unable to communicate.
The two Pakistanis aboard the missing ship belonged to the Dawood family. A statement released by the family said their son Prince David and his son Solomon had “embarked on a trip to see the remains of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean”.
So far, the statement added, they have lost contact with the submarine, and limited information is available about it.
“A rescue effort is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies to restore contact with the submarine and bring it back safely.”
— Engro Corporation (@EngroCorp) June 20, 2023
The ship, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was carrying five people, including a billionaire tourist, who were diving to find the wreck of the Titanic. It began its descent on Sunday morning, but lost contact with the surface within two hours.
Among the passengers is British businessman Hamish Harding, who shared on social media about his participation in the campaign, as confirmed by his airline.
The US Coast Guard said it had launched an extensive search about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while the Canadian Coast Guard said it had also activated fixed-wing aircraft. and sent a ship into the search area.
“Searching in this remote area is a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we find the ship,” US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mager told reporters in Boston. and save the people on board.” where he was supervising the operation.
Time is an important factor. The plane has a range of 96 hours for a crew of five, and Mauger said Monday afternoon that he believed it still had 70 or more hours of oxygen left.
On its website, OceanGate Expedition says the Titanic dive expedition is “currently ongoing.”
The company uses the Titan submarine for its dives, which has a maximum depth of 4,000 meters (13,100 ft).
In a statement to CBS News and other media outlets, OceanGate Expeditions said: “Our focus is on the crew members and their families on board the submarine.”
Harding, a 58-year-old aviator, space tourist, and chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviation, posted on his Instagram account on Sunday that he was “proud to finally announce” that he is leaving his RMS TITANIC. Joined the OceanGate Expedition for the mission. As an expert on sub-missions going down the Titanic.”
“A weather window is still open and we’re going to try to dive tomorrow,” he added.
“Everyone had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving,” Action Aviation posted on Twitter Sunday, and included several photos of Harding and the mission crew at sea level.
Harding himself wrote that “the team on board has some legendary explorers, some of whom have made more than 30 dives on RMS Titanic since the 1980s.”
The expeditions, which cost $250,000 per person, start in St. John’s, Newfoundland, before traveling about 400 miles to the wreck site in the Atlantic Ocean, according to Oceangate’s website.
To view the wreck, passengers climb inside the Titan, a five-person submarine, which takes two hours to descend about 12,500 feet (3,800 m) to the Titanic.
On surface or underwater?
Chief Petty Officer Robert Simpson told AFP that the US Coast Guard had launched two C-130 aircraft to survey the surface, while Canada had deployed aircraft “that use sonar technology with buoys”. have been appointed.
“After the expected return time” for the submarine, the OceanGate vessel “conducted an initial search and was unable to locate any objects or any sign of the submarine and contacted the Coast Guard,” he said.
“We are deeply grateful for the extensive support we have received from various government agencies and deep-sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the Pindobes,” OceanGate said in a statement.
The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York in 1912 when it hit an iceberg with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1500 people died in this tragedy.
The wreck lies in two main pieces about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in about 13,000 feet of water. It was found in 1985 and is a source of attraction and attraction for oceanographers and underwater tourists.
Without having studied the craft himself, Alastair Gregg, professor of marine engineering at University College London, proposed two possible theories based on photographs of the vessel published by the press.
If it had an electrical or communications problem, it could surface and float, “waiting to be found,” he said.
“Another scenario is that the pressure hull was compromised – a leak,” he said in a statement. “Then the prognosis is not good.”
Although the submarine could still remain intact during its dive, “there are very few ships” capable of going to the depths that the Titan would have traveled.
Passengers aboard Titan
The missing OceanGate submarine had five people on board. Here’s what we know about the passengers so far:
Shahzada Dawood
Shahzada Dawood, Vice Chairman of the Engro Board of Directors, is a leading voice for the institutionalization of key international networks, including the World Economic Forum (WEF).
He serves as a trustee on the boards of both the Engro Foundation and Dawood Foundation and joined the SETI Institute’s Board of Trustees in 2020. He also serves as a director on the boards of various companies within the Dawood Group, including Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd and Dawood Lawrencepore Limited.
British billionaire Hamish Harding
Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, is based in the United Arab Emirates, where his company is headquartered. Action Aviation is a sales and operations company that offers a wide range of services to the business aviation industry.
Harding is a self-proclaimed world explorer. He held the Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest man in an airplane and also participated in the fifth human space flight by the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet
French submarine pilot Paul Henri Nargeault is a former commander of the French Navy with a career spanning 25 years. During his service he was the captain of the Deep Submergence Group of the Navy.
He then joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER). Nargolet has been involved in many scientific expeditions around the world, and the Titanic site was one of his many visits.
Stockton Rush
OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush was also on board. He was a trained pilot who became a founder and member of the Board of Trustees of the OceanGate Foundation – a non-profit organization.
